Riding a Flying Light behind Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, Lü Yang quickly spotted the bustling crowd now gathered outside the Sword Pavilion Mountain Gate.

At their head was an old man.

His face was lined with wrinkles and his figure was stooped, yet he was dressed in a Monk's robes, a string of Buddhist Beads clutched in his hand. He simply stood quietly in the center of the crowd.

'...A Monk?'

Lü Yang's interest was piqued for a moment, but he quickly shook his head. He could see the old man's true nature; he had only practiced a few Buddhist Techniques and read a few Buddhist Scriptures but had never received the Pure Land's official acknowledgment. There were many such Loose Cultivators in the world, but they were a far cry from true Monks.

'Though he's got more nerve than a real Monk...'

Looking at the old man and the crowd behind him, Lü Yang couldn't help but wonder: 'What does a group of Loose Cultivators with no connections think they're doing, gathering before the Sword Pavilion Mountain Gate?'

'This is rebellion!'

'...No, that's not right. It's not guaranteed they don't have powerful patrons.'

Under normal circumstances, the voices of these people would never have even reached Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's ears. There had to be a mastermind behind the scenes, pulling the strings!

'Exorcist Zhenren and Buddha's Son Guang Ming? Have they acted this quickly?'

Lü Yang had a sudden realization. The Loose Cultivators weren't causing trouble at the Sword Pavilion Mountain Gate because the Sword Pavilion respected them, but because someone *within* the Sword Pavilion needed this chaos!

But this was simply taking advantage of Demon-Vanquishing Perfected. For the world's number one Sword Cultivator to personally emerge from the mountain gate to receive a group of Loose Cultivators was unheard of. If this had happened at the Stain Sect, these people would have been vaporized on the spot, their Souls sent to the Simulation Realm to serve as fuel for the cultivation of Holy Sect Disciples.

"Shi Yuan... you've grown old."

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected descended from his Flying Light, landing before the old man. His brow furrowed slightly upon seeing the man's monastic robes, and he let out a sigh.

"It seems the aftereffects from all those years ago are still quite severe."

"Are you thinking of joining the Pure Land again?"

As he spoke, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected reached out, as if to clap the man on the shoulder. The next instant, however, his expression froze.

The old man had taken a step back.

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's hand hung frozen in mid-air. His eyes met the old man's furious gaze as a sharp accusation rang out:

"Ye Guangji!"

The old man's body trembled—partly in fear, partly in trepidation—but he firmly raised his head and dared to call out Demon-Vanquishing Perfected by his true name.

"Let me ask you! That drop of Buddha's Blood that fell into Jimo City all those years ago—was it because you were fighting a great eminence from the Pure Land? You slew that eminence but then deliberately allowed the Buddha's Blood to fall upon my Jimo City, using it as an excuse to slaughter every last resident... Is that the real truth of what happened!?"

The old man's words crashed down like thunder.

Lü Yang stood beside Demon-Vanquishing Perfected and saw the crowd behind the old man turn their gazes on them, eyes filled with interrogation and doubt.

Yet Lü Yang felt nothing at the sight.

After all, Jimo City had been nothing more than a minor power of Loose Cultivators. Only the old man, Mo Shiyuan, was a Foundation-Stage Cultivator; the rest were merely at the Qi Refining stage.

'They aren't even people. Why should I care?'

Lü Yang remained unmoved, but the color drained from Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's face. He let out a long breath of Muddy Qi, a look of helplessness appearing in his eyes.

"What happened back then was not as you say. There is more to the story."

With another sigh, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected said, "My battle against Jingguan was no easy feat. Though I took her head and destroyed her body, it came at a cost."

It came back to the same point: he was not a Perfected Lord.

The absolute limit for the world's number one Foundation-Stage Cultivator was slaying a Buddha's Son in three strikes. "Three strikes" implied a process, which meant there was at least room for an exchange of blows.

But if a Perfected Lord had been there, would it have been the same?

Unless the Bhagavat himself were to appear, a mere Buddha's Son, no matter how profound his Divine Effects, could be crushed to death with a single hand!

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected couldn't do that. He needed three strikes, and so, there were some things beyond his control... such as a single drop of Buddha's Blood from Jingguan.

"The incident in Jimo City was indeed caused by that drop of Buddha's Blood. It contained a Pure Land Evil Technique and an Enlightenment Zen Sound. Anyone who heard or saw it was infected and transformed into a Monk. If I hadn't stopped it, Jimo City and even the surrounding regions could have become a miniature Pure Land."

If she had succeeded, the Pure Land's objective would have been accomplished, even in her death.

Furthermore, the Pure Land and the All True Monarchs had already reached an agreement, which is why the Sword Pavilion's own Perfected Lords did not intervene.

This could have even worked in Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's favor. Afterward, he could have easily spun the narrative: Monks had caused a disturbance, and he had slain them to avenge the dead.

But Demon-Vanquishing Perfected refused.

He wasn't there to avenge the dead.

He was there to save them.

And so, with a single sword, he beheaded every person in Jimo City, severing the Pure Land's influence and allowing them to regain their senses.

At this, a look of confusion crossed Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's face.

"I explained all of this to you back then... Shi Yuan, your relatives and friends aren't dead. Didn't you just visit and reminisce with them a few years ago?"

"Not dead?"

The old man's eyes instantly reddened. "I was deceived by you! If you have the courage, open your Storage Bag and show everyone!"

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected nodded calmly at the demand. He removed his Storage Bag and untied its opening. Instantly, a cacophony of voices, as vast as a mountain or an ocean, poured out. Inside were innumerable heads, arranged in countless circles, all chatting with one another. Their expressions were cheerful, completely devoid of any aura of death or sorrow.

Yet the more cheerful they seemed, the more bizarre the scene became.

No matter how many times Lü Yang had seen this, it still made his skin crawl. As for the Loose Cultivators behind the old man, they were terrified, stumbling backward one after another.

"Everyone, look!"

"Do you think these are living people?"

The old man's eyes were nearly splitting with rage as he boomed, "A person cannot live without a heart! These... they have nothing below the neck. Can beings like this still be called alive?"

"How are they not alive?" Demon-Vanquishing Perfected asked, completely bewildered. With a wave of his hand, he summoned forth the former residents of Jimo City whom he had beheaded. "You spoke with them just a few years ago. They hadn't reached Foundation Establishment, and with my Mana preserving them, their appearances haven't changed at all over the years..."

"You're lying!"

The old man cut him off, hissing, "I have long since received guidance from a great eminence! These people are neither living nor dead. They have become nothing more than your puppets!"

"You call it salvation, but it is actually enslavement."

"All those you've 'killed' seem to be alive, but in reality, they suffer a punishment more terrifying than death itself, forever forced to be your minions, under your complete control!"

Lü Yang: "..."

Growing so angry that he stamped his foot, the old man continued, "Besides, the Pure Land is the ultimate place of benevolence! Why would we ever need saving from it? If it weren't for your meddling, I might already be cultivating in the Pure Land, on my way to becoming a Buddha, enjoying eternal paradise! Instead, I'm still here, suffering in this world of red dust!"

"You severed the Great Dao for us common folk who sought the Buddha, and then you took our very lives!"

"What Non-Killing? It's nothing but a ploy to win fame!"

A ploy for fame!

As the old man finished, the entire crowd behind him roared in agreement.

To Lü Yang, their shouts were like a gentle breeze, utterly insignificant. But when they reached the ears of Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, they made him let out a deep sigh.

This sigh wasn't for the old man or for Jimo City.

As the world's number one Sword Cultivator, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had a good and approachable personality... but that didn't mean he was weak.

Accusations that Lü Yang couldn't care less about.

While he might care, they weren't enough to shake his resolve. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

'Shi Yuan isn't someone with access to information. For him to know about my Storage Bag, to know all of this... I fear it wasn't an outsider who told him, but someone from within the Sword Pavilion.'

This indirectly confirmed what Lü Yang had just reported.

*That* was the real reason for his sigh.

'Are they that impatient?'

'Are they so... eager to see me sacrifice the Sword Intent I've cultivated my entire life?'